Chapter 01 Making Buildings

Fundamentals of Building Construction, Materials & Methods, 6th Edition
Copyright © 2013 J. Iano. All rights reserved.
1 MAKING BUILDINGS
BUILDINGS
AND THE
ENVIRONMENT

1 MAKING BUILDINGS
1. Buildings and the Environment (Sustainability)
2. Work of the Design Professional
Zoning ordinances (per Municipality)
Building Codes (IBC)
Accessibility Standards (2012 TAS)
Energy and Other Codes
Master Format: Organizing Outline for Specifications
Deliverables: Construction Drawings and Specifications
3. Work of the Construction Professional
Design/Bid/Build
Design/Build
Fixed Fee
Cost Plus Fee
Sequential Construction
Phased (Fast-Track) Construction
Critical Path
BIM (Building Information Modeling)

Buildings and the Environment
Building Environmental Impacts
Building construction and operation
accounts for 30 to 40 percent of
energy use and greenhouse gas
emissions worldwide.

In the United States:
• 35 percent of energy use
• 65 percent of electricity
consumption
• 30 percent of raw materials
consumption

Building
construction
and operation
account for 40
percent of U.S.
greenhouse
gas emissions.

Sustainability
Meeting the needs of the present
generation without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet
their needs…

Sustainable Building Construction
• Reduce the depletion of fossil fuels
• Preserve arable land
• Minimize materials consumption and
waste
• Protect forests and forest ecosystems
• Protect water resources
• Minimize air pollution
• Maximize the healthfulness of the
interior building environment

Produce buildings that are healthful for
their occupants, protect resources, promote
environmental quality, and provide the
broadest social benefit.
Green building

Green building practices are maturing.
• Standards are becoming more focused
on verifiable performance outcomes.
• Adoption is broadening.
• Increasingly integrated with mainstream
practices and costs.

Sustainable Building Materials
How can the designer know if use of a
particular product or material will:
• Deplete nonrenewable resources?
• Unnecessarily consume excess
energy due to distant
transportation?
• Cause unhealthful emissions?
• Have other harmful effects?

Environmental Labels
Provide information used in the
responsible selection of materials and
products. Data must be:
• Reliable
• Meaningful
• Readily available

ISO 14020 Environmental Labeling
Type I Ecolabels
Independent, third-party certifications
of environmental performance
• Unbiased
• Reliable
• Allow like-to-like comparisons

Type I Ecolabels
E.g., Greenseal Standard GS-11 for
Paints and Coatings
• Performance requirements
• Hazardous content restrictions
• Responsible application and
disposal practices
Allows easy and trustworthy product
comparisons

Example paint
manufacturer’s
independently
verified claims

Type II Self-Declared Environmental
Claims
Manufacturer’s claims
• Not independently verified
• May vary in scope and method of
assessment from one manufacturer
to another

Type II Self-Declared Environmental
Claims
E.g., manufacturer-reported recycled
materials content
The end-user must assume
responsibility for understanding the
manufacturer’s method of reporting
and decide its relevance or usefulness

Example steel stud manufacturer’s
self-declared recycled content claims

Type III Environmental Impact Labels
These are comprehensive life-cycle
assessments of products and their
environmental impacts
• Information is prepared by the
product manufacture, but is
independently verified.

Type III Environmental Impact Labels
E.g., Environmental Product
Declaration for Western Red Cedar
Deck
• Prepared by the research center for
the Western Red Cedar Lumber
Association

Type III Environmental
Impact Labels list such
things as an accounting
of resources consumed
over the life of the
product (in this case
Western Red Cedar
decking):
• Fuel, power, water,
transport, and other
resources consumed
• Air, water and solid
waste emissions

Type III Environmental Impact Labels offer
a Life-Cycle assessment of resources used
in the production of the labeled product.
It’s useful for architects, because if a
comparable assessment was available for
plastic decking, then the environmental
impacts of choosing either redwood or
plastic decking could be compared.

Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA)
Assessment over full material life
from source extraction through
manufacture, use, maintenance, and
final disposal or repurposing.
Two types of LCA:
• Cradle-to-Grave analysis
• Cradle-to Gate analysis

E.g., Western Red Cedar life Cradle-to-Grave
analysis:
• Lumber harvest
• Transport to mill
• Log sorting, debarking, sawing, planing,
drying, packaging
• Transport to building site
• Installation
• Maintenance
• Landfill disposal at end of life

An LCA can measure:
Embodied energy - How much energy is
consumed throughout all phases of the
material life cycle?
Embodied carbon - How much carbon-related
greenhouse gas is generated?
Embodied water - How much fresh water is
consumed?

Cradle-to-Gate analysis:
An analysis that extends from materials
extraction and manufacturing only through
leaving the manufacturer. Cradle-to-Gate
ignores the delivery to construction site,
installation, use, maintenance, and end-of-life
disposition.
• Simpler analysis to produce
• Often, the majority of embodied
environmental impacts occur during these
phases, anyway

Assessing Sustainable Buildings
LEED: Leadership In Energy and
Environmental Design
• Voluntary program developed by
U.S. Green Building Council
(USGBC), an independent, private,
not-for-profit organization
• Most broadly implemented green
building program in North America

LEED
LEED is voluntary.
• USGBC does not itself compel or
enforce the adoption of LEED.
• Implementation depends on private
owners or public agencies choosing
to participate.

LEED
Programs for different types of
construction:
• New Construction LEED-NC
• Existing Buildings LEED-EB
• Commercial Interiors LEED-CI
• Building Core and Shell LEED-CS
• Homes LEED-H
• Schools, Retail, Healthcare,
Neighborhood Development

LEED
LEED-NC for New Construction &
Major Renovations, Categories:
• Sustainable sites
• Water efficiency
• Energy & atmosphere
• Materials & resources
• Indoor environmental quality
• Innovation in design or operation
• Regional priority

LEED-NC Example prereq.s & credits

LEED
Prerequisites: Required
Credits: Earn points
Certifications:
• Platinum: 80-110 points
• Gold: 60+ points
• Silver: 50+ points
• Certified: 40+ points

Living Building Challenge
The aim of this sustainability
assessment is to go beyond buildings
that do less harm to buildings that do
no harm or even improve the
environment.

For example, a Certified Living
Building:
• Obtains 100% of fresh water from
precipitation or closed loop systems
• Obtains 100% of energy from on-
site renewable sources (annualized)
• Emits 0 carbon (including
purchased offsets)

7 Categories or Petals
• Site
• Water
• Energy
• Health
• Materials
• Equity
• Beauty

20 Imperatives, including:
• Limits to growth
• Net zero water
• Net zero energy
• Healthy air
• Materials from responsible industry
• Democracy & social justice
• Beauty & spirit

Materials Red List restricts unhealthful
chemical content. No:
• Cadmium
• Neoprene
• Formaldehyde
• Pthalates
• PVC

Sustainable Buildings
Existing
sustainable
buildings exhibit
a 25% - 35%
improvement in
energy
consumption
over traditional
buildings. Seattle City Hall, LEED Gold, Bassetti Architects/Bohlin
Cywinski Jackson Joint Venture

Sustainable Buildings
Some
sustainable
projects are
even achieving
the hard-to-
reach Living
Building
certification.
Bullitt Center, Miller Hull Architect

1 MAKING BUILDINGS
THE WORK
OF THE
DESIGN
PROFESSIONAL

The Work of the Design Professional
Design Architect or Engineer
Translates owner’s building ideas and
needs into a complete design.
Construction Documents fully
describe the building to be built,
consisting of:
• Graphic Construction Drawings
(CDs)
• Written Specifications (specs)

Zoning Regulations
Local Zoning controls land use:
• Types of allowed activities, such as
industrial, commercial, residential, etc.
• How much land may be covered by
buildings
• Distance from buildings to property lines
• Parking requirements
• Building height and area
• Special fire district requirements

Building Codes
A Building Code regulates building
health and safety, and is chosen by
the municipality:
• Fire safety
• Emergency egress
• Construction quality
• Structural integrity
• Durability
• Livability

Building Codes
Additional codes a city might utilize:
• Energy conservation codes
• Health codes
• Electrical/mechanical codes
• Fire codes
• Accessibility for physically handicapped

Model Building Codes
Standardized codes, adopted and put
into legal effect by local jurisdictions
Typically used in the U.S.:
• International Building Code (IBC)
for the construction of public buildings
• International Residential Code
(IRC) for the construction of
residences

IBC Occupancy Groups
The IBC lists Occupancy Groups, or
classifications, for all buildings, which define
activities within a building and reflect the relative
safety concerns of different types of activities.
Buildings often fall under more than one
Occupancy Group:
A Assembly
B Business
E Educational
F Factory
H High hazard
I Institutional
M Mercantile
R Residential
S Storage
U Utility

Occupancy A Assembly
• Theaters, auditoriums, lecture halls,
night clubs, and other places of
public gathering
• Large crowds in unfamiliar settings
• Need special attention to
emergency exit provisions

Occupancy Group I Institutional
• Hospitals, prisons, care facilities
• Residents cannot fend for
themselves in an emergency
• Provide protected areas within the
building where occupants can wait
for assistance

IBC Construction Types
The IBC also lists five different Construction
Types, that encompass all building
construction. The types range from Type I
(highest fire-resistance) to Type V (least fire
resistance).
These construction types reflect how many
hours a structure can be expected to resist the
effects of fire in a building, and impact how
large the building is allowed to be.

Combustibility of Building Materials
Type I Noncombustible materials only
(steel, concrete, masonry)Type II
Type III Noncombustible exterior walls
and combustible (wood) interior
materials
Type IV Heavy Timber Construction
Type V Combustible light wood framing

Fire Resistance (in hours)
Structural Frame Fire-Resistance Rating
Type I 2 – 3 hours
Type II 0 – 1 hour
Type III 0 – 1 hour
Type IV Heavy Timber, or HT
(not typically used)
Type V 0 – 1 hour

IBC Table 601: Fire Resistance (in hours)
for building elements

IBC Allowable Height and Area
Occupancy Group and Construction Type
determine allowable building size:
• Occupancies with greater risk of hazard
result in smaller buildings.
• Construction systems more resistant to
fire result in larger buildings.

IBC Table 502. For example: Occupancy Group A-1
and Construction Type II-B:
• 55 feet in height (max.)
• 2 stories (max.)
• 8500 sf per floor (max.)

Generally, fire-resistance increases from right
to left, as do allowable height and floor area.
Less fire-resistant/
Smaller buildings
More fire-resistant/
Larger buildings

According to the IBC, the resulting
building height and floor area figures
in Table 501 can be increased due to:
• Installing a fire sprinkler system
• Allowing for fire fighter access
around the entire building

Fire sprinklers provide a major life-safety
benefit.
• With the installation of a fire sprinkler
system, the allowable area per floor can be
multiplied by four for a one-story building,
and by three for a multi-story building.
• The allowable height can also be increased,
by 20 feet (maximum) and by one story.

Expanding fire truck access around
the entire building perimeter allows
up to an additional 75% increase in
area per floor.

Other Regulations Impacting
Building Design
Equal access to facilities for persons with
disabilities:
• Building code accessibility requirements
• Federal civil rights laws such as Americans
with Disabilities Act, Fair Housing Act, and
others
• TAS 2012

Other Regulations Impacting
Building Design
• Worker safety: Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA)
• Environmental protections: Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) protection of
sensitive land, waterways, limits on
emission of air pollutants

Construction Standards
Standardized construction techniques,
practices, and evaluations:
• Define good practice
• Ensure minimum quality levels
• Encourage standardization and efficiency in
methods of construction

Construction Standards
Construction Standards are arrived at by a
number of organizations, including:
• American Society for Testing and
Materials (ASTM): Materials and
methods standards
• American National Standards
Institute (ANSI): Wide variety of
construction products and systems
standards

Organizing Construction Information
MasterFormat
• Widely-used numbering/outline system
for the organization of construction
materials and systems in an architectural
design project (it’s a format for the
Specifications book)
• Organized into 50 major Divisions

MasterFormat
Division 00 – Procurement and Contracting
Requirements
Division 01 – General Requirements
Division 02 – Existing Conditions
Division 03 – Concrete
Division 04 – Masonry
Division 05 - Metals
Division 06 – Wood, Plastics, and
Composites
Division 07 – Thermal and Moisture
Protection
Division 08 – Openings
Division 09 – Finishes
Division 10 – Specialties
Division 11 – Equipment
Division 12 – Furnishings
Division 13 – Special Construction
Division 14 – Conveying Equipment
Division 21 – Fire Suppression
Division 22 – Plumbing
Division 23 – Heating, Ventilating, and Air
Conditioning
Division 25 – Integrated Automation
Division 26 – Electrical
Division 27 – Communications
Division 28 – Electronic Safety and
Security
Division 31 – Earthwork
Division 32 – Exterior Improvements
Division 33 – Utilities
(This list includes only Divisions most
relevant to this text and building
construction in general)

MasterFormat
Sections within Divisions define the work of
individual trades or suppliers. For example:
Division 05 – Metals
Section 05 10 00 – Structural Steel Framing
Section 05 21 00 – Steel Joist Framing
Section 05 31 00 – Steel Decking
Section 05 40 00 – Cold-Formed Metal Framing
Section 05 50 00 – Metal Fabrications
Section 05 51 33 – Metal Ladders
Section 05 51 33.13 Vertical Metal Ladders

MasterFormat
MasterFormat is also used to:
• Organize construction cost data
• Organize trade and technical literature
• Systematize notes on construction
drawings

Other Organizational Systems
CSI/CSC UniFormat
Classification of building elements by
functional groups, such as
substructure, shell, interiors, services,
etc.

UniFormat
Eight Level 1 categories:
• A Substructure
• B Shell
• C Interiors
• D Services
• E Equipment and Furnishings
• F Special Construction and Demolition
• G Building Sitework
• Z General

UniFormat
Classes and subclasses for greater
definition:
Level 1: B Shell
Level 2: B10 Superstructure
Level 3: B1010 Floor Construction
Level 4: B1010.10 Floor Structural Frame
Level 5: B1010.10.WF Wood Floor Framing
Etc.

OmniClass Construction
Classification System
A broadly flexible system for
organizing construction information
according to any number of schemes,
such as function, form, elements,
work results, phases, properties, etc.

OmniClass
15 Tables, e.g.:
• Table 13: Spaces by Function
• Table 21: Elements (like Uniformat)
• Table 22: Work Results (like MasterFormat)
• Table 23: Products
• Table 31: Phases
• Table 32: Services
• Table 35: Tools
• Table 41: Materials
• Table 49: Properties

1 MAKING BUILDINGS
THE WORK
OF THE
CONSTRUCTION
PROFESSIONAL

The Work of the Construction Professional
Providing Construction Services
Allocation of responsibilities and risks
among major parties:
• Design team: architects, engineers,
and other consultants
• Construction team: General
contractor, subcontractors,
suppliers
• Owner team: Owner, financers,
user groups

Project Delivery Methods
Design/Bid/Build
• Owner hires
separate design
and
construction
teams.

Design/Bid/Build
• Separate entities
provide checks
and balances
• Difficult to
integrate
construction
expertise into
design

Design/Build
• Owner hires
single design
and
construction
entity.

Design/Build
• Fosters
coordination
between A/E and
GC
• Single point of
accountability for
owner
• Fewer checks and
balances

Construction
Management
• Owner hires
independent CM to
oversee design and
construction
services provided
by multiple
entities.

Construction
Management
• Construction
expertise is
available to owner
throughout project
• Most commonly
associated with
large scale,
complex projects

• CM at risk: Aspects of construction
manager and general contractor
• Turnkey Construction: Single entity
provides financing as well as
construction services
• Single-Purpose entity: combines
owner, design, and construction
teams into one legal entity

Paying for Construction Services
Fixed Fee (lump sum)
• Owner pays an agreed, fixed amount
for work to be performed.
• GC assumes most risk or potential
reward for unplanned construction
costs or savings.
• Best suited to projects where scope of
work is well defined before
construction starts.

Cost Plus a Fee
• Owner pays GC’s total actual costs plus
an added fee.
• Owner assumes cost risk if the price of
materials or labor increases.
• GC is assured of payment, regardless of
changes in construction costs.

Cost Plus a Fee
• Well-suited to projects where scope is
not fully defined when construction
begins.
• Adding a guaranteed maximum price
(GMP) limits the Owner’s maximum
cost and shifts some cost risk back
toward the contractor.

Other types of risk allocation:
• Incentive provisions financially reward
contractor for timely completion of the
construction project.
• Surety bonds, purchased by owner,
protect against contractor default by
ensuring that the project will be
completed (even if it means securing
another contractor).

Construction Phasing
Sequential
Construction
• Each major phase
begins only after
the preceding
phase is complete.
• The Design must
be completed
before construction
begins.

Phased
Construction
• Design and
construction
phases overlap.
• Aim is to reduce
total amount of
time for the
construction of the
project.

• Sequential Construction is simpler to
manage.
• Phased Construction requires closer
coordination between design and
construction activities.
• Phased Construction introduces additional
risk if elements built early come into
conflict with later design changes.

• Phased Construction is most naturally
suited to Design/Build and Construction
Management project delivery, where
construction expertise is available during
the entire design phase of the project.
• Traditionally, Sequential Construction is
associated with Design/Bid/Build
construction.

Construction Scheduling
Gantt Charts
• Visually represent project tasks or
phases on a horizontal timeline
• Provide an easy-to-understand picture of
a project schedule and relationships
between phases.

The Critical Path Method analyzes
required task dependencies in a
construction project and determines the
Critical Path.

The Critical Path, itself, is the sequence of
required, sequential tasks that determines
the least amount of time in which a project
can be completed.

Managing Construction
The General Contractor (GC):
• oversees construction
• controls the project site
• manages trades and suppliers
• coordinates communications between construction team
and owner, designer
• files construction permits
• secures the project site
• provides temporary power and water
• sets-up office trailers and support facilities
• provides insurance coverage for the work in progress
• manages personnel on site

• maintains a safe work environment
• stockpiles materials
• performs testing and quality control
• provides site surveying and engineering
• arranges for cranes and other construction machinery
• provides temporary structures and weather protection
• disposes of or recycles construction waste
• solicits the work of subtrades and coordinates their
efforts
• submits product samples and technical information to
the design team for review

• maintains accurate records of the construction as it
proceeds
• monitors costs and schedules
• manages changes to the work
• protects completed work

Construction Trends
• Integrated Project Delivery: design team,
construction team, and owner mutually
share responsibilities, decision-making, and
financial risks for a project.
• Lean Construction: construction practices
that seek to reduce complexity, eliminate
wasteful activities, structure the supply of
materials and methods of production to
achieve efficient workflow, and decentralize
information and decision-making.

Construction Trends
• Building Information Modeling (BIM): the
computerized, three-dimensional modeling
of building systems. BIM models are data-
rich, extensively describing their properties
and relationships to other components.

Chapter 01 Making Buildings

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Chapter 01 Making Buildings